When is Mahavir Jayanti 2020?

Mahavir Jayanti is a gazetted holiday in India. This year Mahavir Jayanti 2020 (Mahavir Janma Kalyanak) is falling on April 6, 2020.

Why is Mahavir Jayanti celebrated?

Mahavir Jayanti is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of Mahavir Jain. He is the 24th Tirthankara in Jainism. Mahavir Jayanti(Mahavir Janma Kalyanak) is one of the most important religious celebrations. Mahavir was born on the thirteenth day in the month of Chaitra in 599 BC in a royal Kshatriya Jain family of the Ikshvaku dynasty in Bihar, India. It falls in the Gregorian month of March and April. Mahavir was named Vardhaman. It is believed that Queen Trishala saw many auspicious dreams during her pregnancy and when Mahaveer was born Indra; the king of heaven performed a ritual called “Abhishek” on the Sumeru mountain.

This event is considered as one of the five auspicious events that are believed to have occurred in the life of all the Tirthankaras. The day is celebrated by offering prayers, fasting, undertaking charity and a procession is carried out by carrying the idol of Mahavir on a chariot.

Life accounts of Mahavir Jain

Mahavir grew up as a prince. There are two different opinions of historians regarding his marriage. The Digambara sect believes he never got married while the Svetambara sect believes he got married to Yashoda at a very young age and had a daughter Priyadarshana.

■ Mahavir Jayanti History and Story

He lived like a prince for thirty years and then gave up the royal life in search of spiritual awakening. He lived an ascetic life after that. He observed fasts, meditated under the Ashoka tree and gave up his clothing too. He observed rigorous penance for twelve years and attained omniscience at the age of forty-three. He then preachedJainism for thirty years.

According to him, practicing ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truth), Asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (Chastity) and aparigraha (non-attachment) can lead to spiritual liberation. So this was the brief history and story of the Mahavir Jain on Mahavir Jayanti.

■ Mahavir Jain Death

He is believed to have passed away (Died) at the age of 72 years in 527 BC. Jains celebrate that day as Diwali which also happens to be a Hindu festival. According to their belief system, when a Tirthankara attains Nirvana, people only find his hair and nails as their body simply dissolves in the air.

According to the Jain texts, heavenly beings descended on earth to perform funeral rites of Mahavir Jain. This is depicted as artwork in Jain temples.

Previous births of Mahavir Jain

According to Indian Holy Scriptures, a soul takes 8.4 million life forms before it acquires a human body. According to the Jain texts, the soul of Marichi took birth as the 24th Tirthankara. Marichee, the grandson of Rishabhdev is believed to be the founder of Vedic religion. Marichee was the first disciple of Tirthankar Rishabhdev. Now let us take a look at the number of births the soul of Marichi went through from the book

■ “Aao Jain Dharam Ko Jane” written by Praveen Chandra Jain.

According to this book, Marichi was a Hunter named Pururva. After Pururva died, his soul went to heaven and became a God with a life as long as a sea. After his time in heaven was over, he took birth as Marichi. After Marichi’s death, his soul again went to greater heaven (Brahm Lok) and became a God.

Post this, he took birth as Kapil in Ayodhya. After this life got over, his soul again went to heaven. Then he again took birth as Agnishay and went to heaven post this. He again took birth as Agnimitra, went to heaven post-death and took birth as sage Bharadwaj.

After this life got over his soul again went to heaven. Post this life, his soul took birth in many life forms;

The oak tree for 1000 times

oyster for 80000 times

The Neem tree for 20000 times

The banana tree for 90000 times

sandalwood tree for 3000 times

Nerium Oleander tree for 50 million times

A prostitute for 60000 times

5 million times a hunter

20 million times elephant

A donkey for 60 million times

A dog for 30 million times

An impotent for 60 million times

A woman for 20 million times

A laundryman for 0.9 million times

A horse for 8 million times

A cat for 20 million times

died due to a miscarriage 6 million times and became a God for 8 million times.

Why did the soul of Mahavir Jain take so many life forms?

Marichi took initiation from his grandfather and undertook the Way of Worship in the Holy Vedas. According to the Hindu belief system and Jain belief system, after undertaking worship in accordance with the Vedas, a soul attains salvation and goes to heaven.

Should a devout soul take so many births

A soul so pious and devout should not take so many births since our holy books say that all those who undertake worship in accordance with holy books attain salvation. Then why did the soul of Marichi have to endure so much pain? The answer to this lies in our own holy books namely Srimad Bhagavad Gita and the Vedas. These holy books hold answers to our questions which have never been answered by our spiritual teachers in the past.

■ The teachings of Srimad Bhagavad Gita have not been properly understood by the religious preachers in the past as well as in the present.

Bhagwat Gita clearly states that all those souls who undertake ways of worship opposite to the injunctions of Holy Scriptures lead to a decline in chapter number 9 verse numbers 23 and 24.

Srimad Bhagwat Gita clearly indicates that all the worlds until Brahm Lok or the great heaven are completely destructible in chapter 8 verse 16. It means one cannot be liberated from the cycle of birth and death.

Bhagavad Gita chapter 6 verse 10-15 mentions that those who undertake fasting or meditation can never attain peace.

It is mentioned in Srimad Bhagavad Gita chapter 7 verses 1 and 2 that the three Gunas Rajgun (Brahma), Satguru (Vishnu) and Tamgun (Shiv) keep a soul entangled in karmic deeds and do not allow it to attain liberation.

The fact that a soul who undertakes worship according to the Vedas attain Brahm Lok (greater heaven) not salvation is also supported in Srimad Bhagavad Gita chapter 9 verse 20, 21.

Holy Yajur Veda clearly indicates that Supreme Almighty can forgive our sins in chapter 8 mantra 13. It is also mentioned in the Rigveda that Almighty Supreme can even extend a devout soul’s life by curing him of diseases or resurrecting one if that soul happens to die. Yajurveda chapter 5 mantra 32 mentions that Almighty Supreme Kabir Sahib is the one who can grant ultimate peace. Rigveda Mandal 10, sukt 90 and Mantra 16 states that those devout souls who undertake true worship and abandon all evils go back to Eternal Abode.

It means that Mahavir Jain did not undertake the true way of worship of Supreme Almighty Kabir Saheb. He did not worship Almighty Supreme when he took initiation from his grandfather as Marichi. Else he would have attained liberation and would not have to endure the pain of taking birth in so many life forms.

Mahavir Jayanti 2020-Is salvation possible?

After considering the suffering of the soul of Mahavir Jain, many of you reading this blog would be wondering is there really a way to put an end to this birth and death???

■ Mahavir Jayanti 2020 (Mahavir Janma Kalyanak): Yes, there is a way and I have mentioned it in the previous point. By worshipping true Almighty Kabir Saheb one can attain salvation in the true sense.That soul will go to Satlok and never return to this universe.

Satlok is a place where there is no old age, no disease, no sorrow, and NO DEATH

There is evidence of this place in Atharva Veda, Kaand 4, Anuvaak 1.1,

in Rigveda Mandal 9, Sukt 96, Mantra 18.

According to Kabir Sagar, this place is 1600^10 quadrillion kilometers from earth.

Mahavir Jayanti Quotes in English by Saint Rampal Ji

“Mahavir Jain is considered to be divine by the Jain community yet his soul went through the pain of birth and death”~Mahavir Jayanti Quotes-Saint Rampal Ji

“Salvation does not mean going to heaven.”

“A true spiritual master can impart a true way of worship”

How to undertake true worship??

To do true worship one has to find an enlightened sage who is well acquainted with all the Holy books. The way to identify this enlightened sage is mentioned in Srimad Bhagavad Gita chapter 15 verse 1-4. The good thing about today is that this enlightened sage is present in India. His name is Jagatguru Saint Rampal Ji Maharaj from Barwala-Hisar, Haryana.

He is the only one who is imparting the true spiritual Knowledge and the true way of worship prescribed in our Holy Books. To know more, kindly listen to His spiritual Sermons on Sadhna TV at 7:30 pm IST or you can order a free copy of His incredible Book Gyan Ganga. If you wish to take initiation from Him, kindly fill the Nam Diksha form.